Grab to expand in Davao
WITH its continuous growth, Grab Philippines will continue to expand in Davao City specifically employing more GrabTaxi drivers in the future, said Grab Philippines executive.
In a press conference with Grab Philippines held at Saging Republik, V. Mapa St., Deputy Country Marketing Head Raenald de Jesus said with their good relationship with their drivers as well as the drivers’ relationship with the passengers, they have seen expansion potentials in Davao City.
Currently having a thousand drivers in the city, de Jesus said their drivers receive an average of about 35 percent higher income than the national average. Aside from this, they nurture the good relationship they have with their passengers by instilling honesty.
“About 99 percent of the personal things of the passengers left in Grab Taxis here in Davao City are really returned to the passengers. This is as long as the stuff is found by the drivers,” said Senior City Manager Jose Thor Q. Villarreiz.
During the press conference as well, they held their quarterly Pagpugay awards which is done to recognize the good performance of the drivers as well as their honesty, dedication, and hard work. Among those who were recognized and given the awards were Leechar de Leon, Jeffrey Cabras, Joseph Ayala, Bernardo delos Reyes, and Richard Perez.
Now, with the increased demand of Grab Taxi in Davao City as a result of the good passenger-driver relationship, de Jesus said their acquisition of additional drivers is continuous.
“Right now, we have thousands of GrabTaxi drivers in Davao City. With that we can serve 90 to 95 percent of the demand but there will always be the 5 to 10 percent [not served], that’s why our acquisition is continuous. We do still want to increase our number of drivers,” said de Jesus who added that the overall operations of Grab Philippines is stable especially in terms of operations, number of rides, and the number of passengers and drivers.
When asked what they can say about the newly-launched Hirna, a local mobile taxi hailing app made by the Metro Davao Taxi Operators Association (MDTOA), he said they welcome competition given that they are still able to cater to the demand of their customers as well.
“All over the country, we see different kinds of competition but at the end of the day, as long as our passengers are able to see what we can give and the kind of services we are able to deliver, then we’re comfortable with the competition,” de Jesus said.